About

How much of Earth's atmosphere must we contaminate? How much of our lands and waters must we pollute? How much of our resources must we plunder, deplete? How many species must we ravage, despoil, extinguish? How many people must we degrade, deprive, destroy with toxic wastes and wars, before we learn to respect one another, to live in harmony on this planet, our Home?
"All living beings are brothers and sisters, nourished from the same source of life.." -- Thich Nhat Hanh

About Me

I was born in Eastern Europe during the height of the
Stalinist regime's reign of terror. Thus, I know what it is like to live under a repressive, dictatorial regime. The fear and terror -- as dissident friends and family members were tortured, imprisoned and some were executed -- is indelibly etched in my memory. That is the reason I have always been an ardent advocate of freedom, social justice, civil liberties, human rights and a voice of peace. The way I see it, war is morally wrong, regardless of who wages it, for whatever reason. No piece of land or commodity is worth the sacrifice of one human life. We are all members of the same race - the "human race" - and must learn to coexist peacefully. Our planet cannot sustain us much longer if we do not stop our wars, nukes, polluting, deforestation, and the wasteful, gluttonous consumption and depletion of our natural resources.

âA satisfyingly virulent, comical, absurd, deeply grieving true portrait of how things work today in the sleek factories of conglomerate book producers... A skillful novel of manners -- of very bad mannersâ

Friday, September 29, 2006

A Quarter Million Iraqis Flee Sectarian Violence

A few of today's Truthout headlines:

A Quarter Million Iraqis Flee Sectarian Violence

A quarter of a million Iraqis have fled sectarian violence and registered as refugees in the past seven months with an upsurge in attacks over Ramadan. In Baghdad, police found the bodies of 40 more victims - bound, tortured and murdered. The United States says violence in Iraq has surged in the last two weeks, and this past week saw the most suicide bombs of any week since the war began in 2003....Read full article here.

An Alternative Way Forward for the US

A Princeton report on National Security suggests that the policies pursued by President George W. Bush since September 11, 2001, have been simplistic and counter-productive for dealing with the challenges facing the United States in the 21st century. The US needs to rely less on military power and more on other tools of diplomacy; be more on cooperation with other democratic states; and focus on building "popular, accountable, rights-regarding [PAR] governments."...Read full article here.

Tracking the CIA Torture Flights

President George W. Bush admitted that the United States detains suspected terrorists in secret CIA-run prisons in foreign countries, but refused to disclose the location of said jails. "Doing so would provide our enemies with information they could use to take retribution against our allies and harm our country." A.C. Thompson and Trevor Paglen detail how the CIA transports these "detainees" around the globe. In These Times spoke with Thompson about how they tracked planes going to and from locations that don't officially exist....Read full article here.David Swanson | Treating Criminality as Daring Boldness

David Swanson writes: "Bush has launched an illegal war, lied to Congress to do so, and misused funds by beginning the war before asking for approval. Bush has targeted civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and used illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and the Napalm-like weapon found in Mark-77 fire bombs. Bush has arbitrarily detained Americans, legal residents and non-Americans without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel. To call this criminal is merely to agree with the US Supreme Court."...Read full article here.

VIDEO | Keith Olbermann: A Textbook Definition of Cowardice

Keith Olbermann: "Our tone should be crazed. The nation's freedoms are under assault by an administration whose policies can do us as much damage as al Qaida; the nation's marketplace of ideas is being poisoned by a propaganda company so blatant that Tokyo Rose would've quit. Bill Clinton did what almost none of us have done in five years. He has spoken the truth about 9/11, and the current presidential administration."...Read full article here.